An elderly man was beaten and robbed inside his Fort Lauderdale apartment by an intruder who found his way inside, leading police to make an arrest.<\/p>\n
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, the 75-year-old victim was targeted inside his home along the 2900 block of Banyan Street, Friday night.<\/p>\n
Speaking with 7News on Saturday, Charlie Diaz said the victim, called Norm, is his neighbor at the apartment building.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorm on the first floor, he was attacked last night,\u201d said Diaz. \u201c[The intruder] attacked him and beat him up, robbed him and stole his car and left him to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detectives identified the assailant as 48-year-old Joseph Soini.<\/p>\n
Diaz said the intruder got into the building when Norm was taking out the trash.<\/p>\n
At one point, Diaz added, the suspect was trying to get into his apartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was pulling on people\u2019s doors. He finally got into one door, which was [Norm\u2019s]. We don\u2019t know how; he was waiting for him and attacked him when he got in there,\u201d said Diaz.<\/p>\n
Police said Soini attacked the victim with a trophy and attempted to strangle him before he left with the elderly man\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
Investigators said the suspect also stole Norm\u2019s bicycle and nearly $4,000.<\/p>\n
Police said they later found the stolen car near 330 North Federal Highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said helicopters were out looking for him, and they got him,\u201d said Diaz.<\/p>\n
Soini was arrested Saturday morning. He faces a list of charges, including grand theft auto and possession of cocaine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got caught. but it\u2019s not the first time that somebody has gotten into the building,\u201d said Diaz. \u201cThis building definitely needs more security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detectives are still investigating this incident.<\/p>\n
As for Norm, he is back home from the hospital and resting.<\/p>\n
The brutal attack on the 75-year-old man in his Fort Lauderdale apartment serves as a stark reminder of the importance of security and vigilance in our communities. As the investigation continues, it is essential that authorities work to ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that measures are taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.<\/p>\n
* What happened to the victim?
\n The 75-year-old man was beaten and robbed inside his Fort Lauderdale apartment by an intruder who found his way inside.
\n* Who was arrested in connection with the crime?
\n 48-year-old Joseph Soini was arrested and faces charges including grand theft auto and possession of cocaine.
\n* What was stolen from the victim?
\n The suspect stole the victim’s car, bicycle, and nearly $4,000.
\n* Is the building where the crime occurred secure?
\n According to the victim’s neighbor, the building has had security issues in the past, and it is unclear if the building has taken adequate measures to prevent future incidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
75-year-old man beaten and robbed in Fort Lauderdale apartment, police say; suspect arrested Victim’s Neighbor Describes the Attack An elderly man was beaten and robbed inside his Fort Lauderdale apartment by an intruder who found his way inside, leading police to make an arrest. According to Fort Lauderdale Police, the 75-year-old victim was targeted inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/wsvn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/250111_Norm_elderly_man_beaten_Fort_Lauderdale_home_invasion.jpg?quality=60&strip=color&w=640&resize=640,360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5877"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5879,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5877\/revisions\/5879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}